Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts Lambert Henry's hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's hairdressing school and is currently waiting to take the state certification test. less

Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts Lambert Henry's hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's hairdressing school and is currently waiting to ... more

Damion Rhoden, 4, makes faces at himself in the mirror as Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts his hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's hairdressing school and is currently waiting to take the state certification test. less

Damion Rhoden, 4, makes faces at himself in the mirror as Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts his hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's ... more

Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts 4-year-old Damion Rhoden's hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's hairdressing school and is currently waiting to take the state certification test. less

Lenin De La Cruz, who goes by Ariel, cuts 4-year-old Damion Rhoden's hair at Love Cuts in Stamford, Conn., on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Ariel is a graduate of Mike Valentine's hairdressing school and is currently ... more

STAMFORD -- Nearly 30 years ago, Michael Valentine began cutting hair in his mother's kitchen as a way to support a growing family. As an artist who loved painting and drawing, Valentine knew then that he had "a good eye and a good hand," as he put it. All he needed was a way to put those talents to good -- and lucrative -- use.

At the time, Valentine was working in the kitchens at Smith House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, weighing the costs and sacrifices of going to hairdressing school to obtain a license alongside the merits of following a burgeoning career. Like nearly every incipient entrepreneur, he looked into a long future of clocking in and clocking out on someone else's time and knew he wanted it to be different.

"I just wanted to be my own boss," he said. "I just fell in love with it, and I've been cutting hair ever since."

First an entrepreneurial success story, then a neighborhood fixture, Valentine now presides over a growing network of hairdressing schools throughout the city. He has not just become his own boss, but has launched the independent careers of dozens of other like him, those with talent and drive in need of opportunity.

For 25 years, Valentine has run his own barbershop, Love Cuts, on West Main Street. But, in 2009, he launched Total Image Academy, the first in a growing series of hairdressing schools that Valentine has built in the city, where his students hone their skills to prepare for the state's licensing exams. His daughter, ShaQueen Valentine, is a fellow salon owner, entrepreneur, and vice president of Total Image Academy. This spring, she opened a branch of the school at her own salon, Vanity Studio, on Atlantic Street.

"For me, this was an opportunity to pursue my dreams even further," she said. "Ever since I can remember, there's been hair everywhere."

To obtain his own license years ago, Valentine worked part time and went to school part time over the course of five years, a turbulent road into the industry that many of his students share, he said.

"My dream was to have my own school because it took me so long to get a license," he said. "So I said, `I want to open a school for people who have hardships like me.' "

At Love Cuts, the black and white checkered floor, the red smocks worn by barbers and customers and the relaxed, clubby atmosphere harken to an earlier time, when men wore hats and cars wore chrome fenders. The many strands that thread through Stamford seem to converge, at one time or another, in Valentine's barbershop. He has shaped the haircuts of doctors, judges, high-powered traders from RBS and UBS, neighborhood boys and their fathers. Love Cuts stays open six days a week, often until 10 p.m., because Valentine and his barbers work the same way his customers do, he said: long hours late into the night. During an ordinary week, Love Cuts will see 300 to 400 customers come through, Valentine said.

"I have clients who have graduated from college, who I first put on a high chair," he said. "It's good to see."

At Total Image Academy, Valentine trains men to become barbers; at Vanity Studio, his daughter trains women in hairdressing, styling and coloring. This fall, Valentine is preparing to open a third school at Ladi's Salon on Greenwich Avenue in Stamford, specifically intended to tutor Spanish-speaking students who face a language barrier when applying for state licensing. The school recently received certification from the state and is accepting applications for the September start of the course, which runs 10-12 months and costs $12,000. Keeping in mind students who have to work and care for children, as he did, Valentine offers scholarships, flexible hours and is exploring the option of getting corporations to sponsor students.

Following her father into hairdressing after a stint at Parson's School of Design, ShaQueen Valentine invested heavily in the business, paying $14,000 for her certification and starter kit, plus an additional $3,000 to make up for the hours of schooling she missed while caring for a newborn at home. Now in the industry for about decade, she delights in helping to provide a flexible, affordable education to those who need an introduction into a lucrative and ultimately fulfilling business, she said.

She also shares her father's entrepreneurial spirit.

"I didn't want to work for someone all my life," she said. "I wanted to start my own career."